The Wild One
For those of you who think Marlon Brando's caricature in The Wild One was to feminine and to out of step with the 50s, I will remind you that the movie was based on a real event and real caricature, albeit loosely! Hollister, California July 4, 1947, where am AMA sanctioned race was being held. A bunch of WWII veterans crashed the race and started their own drags on the main street! They were the infamous Boozefighters motorcycle club, led by "Wino Willie” Forkner, a waist gunner on B-24 Liberators. There is a photo of him bellow, just in case you don't how he got his nick name. When they got home they wanted more action, and motorcycle racing was it. When the AMA banned the Harley Davidson JD from competition is when many broke off and formed the 1%. Later the Hells Angels splintered off, formed by other WWII veterans. It was said that Lee Marvin's caricature was closer, and he was a real rider, who later raced Triumph's. At Hollister, the CHIPs were called in and a lot of arrest made, mainly intoxication, and public indecency, they didn't take over the town, so much as stop traffic. On the 50th anniversary, one of the towns men said as a kid it was the first time he had seen a woman's breast. These were members of The Greatest Generation in the tame late 40s! When Willie was asked the famous question, "what were you rebelling against", he replied, "We were rebelling against the establishment, for Chrissakes," he roared. "You go fight a ******* war, and the minute you get back and take off the uniform and put on Levi's and leather jackets, they call you an a --. In the early days of biking, they immediately thought you were an outlaw sort of person. We didn't think we were. We didn't go around banging heads." Then again should we be suprised, after all, another member of The Greatest Generation was non other then Timothy Leary, the LSD counterculture guru! All the changes of the 50s and 60s for better or worse came out of the largest war in human history. There is a photo of him bellow, just in case you don't how he got his nick name.
For those of you who think Marlon Brando's caricature in The Wild One was to feminine and to out of step with the 50s, I will remind you that the movie was based on a real event and real caricature, albeit loosely! Hollister, California July 4, 1947, where am AMA sanctioned race was being held. A bunch of WWII veterans crashed the race and started their own drags on the main street! They were the infamous Boozefighters motorcycle club, led by "Wino Willie” Forkner, a waist gunner on B-24 Liberators. There is a photo of him bellow, just in case you don't how he got his nick name. When they got home they wanted more action, and motorcycle racing was it. When the AMA banned the Harley Davidson JD from competition is when many broke off and formed the 1%. Later the Hells Angels splintered off, formed by other WWII veterans. It was said that Lee Marvin's caricature was closer, and he was a real rider, who later raced Triumph's. At Hollister, the CHIPs were called in and a lot of arrest made, mainly intoxication, and public indecency, they didn't take over the town, so much as stop traffic. On the 50th anniversary, one of the towns men said as a kid it was the first time he had seen a woman's breast. These were members of The Greatest Generation in the tame late 40s! When Willie was asked the famous question, "what were you rebelling against", he replied, "We were rebelling against the establishment, for Chrissakes," he roared. "You go fight a ******* war, and the minute you get back and take off the uniform and put on Levi's and leather jackets, they call you an a --. In the early days of biking, they immediately thought you were an outlaw sort of person. We didn't think we were. We didn't go around banging heads." Then again should we be suprised, after all, another member of The Greatest Generation was non other then Timothy Leary, the LSD counterculture guru! All the changes of the 50s and 60s for better or worse came out of the largest war in human history. There is a photo of him bellow, just in case you don't how he got his nick name.